


yurikago

by Star_less



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Coaxing, Emotional Hiro Hamada, Fluff, Fluff and Mush, Gen, Hiro Hamada Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Infantilism, Literal Sleeping Together, Lullabies, No Hiro Hamada/Tadashi Hamada, Not Canon Compliant, Omorashi, One Shot, Protective Older Brothers, Sad Hiro Hamada, Shyness, Sleepiness, Sort Of, Tadashi Hamada is a Good Big Bro, Woobie, prison cell scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24829825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_less/pseuds/Star_less
Summary: Caught bot-fighting, young Hiro Hamada lands himself and his older brother into police custody overnight. Hiro soon finds that staying in a police cell isn't fun, not without his big brother andespecially most definitely absolutelynot when he realises he needs to pee. Will big brother Tadashi save the day, like he somehow always does?
Relationships: Hiro Hamada & Tadashi Hamada
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	yurikago

**Author's Note:**

> Contains omorashi (desperation to pee) and pee shyness (inability to pee if someone is near) as well as a smidge of infantilism. I age down a lot of my favourite characters, so Hiro acts a wee bit younger than he does in-canon. NO incestuous shipping, purely helpful big brother Tadashi :)  
> Of course if that isn't fun for you please hit the backspace :D  
> I watched BH6 this morning and was inspired to finish this old WIP I had laying around, yay me!

With his phone violently buzzing on the desk next to him, Tadashi knew exactly the call that was coming - and almost didn’t want to pick it up.  
Groaning as he looked at the screen, the young man answered tiredly. “Fred?”  
“Yeah.” Fred responded in much the same tone. “Friend of mine just caught Hiro bot fighting in the Good Luck Alley. Again. Said he was too far away to get there in time. Looked like Hiro was being cornered.” 

Tadashi groaned louder as Fred confirmed his fears, running one hand over his face. Despite knowing Fred wouldn’t be calling him at this hour for anything else, he almost found himself wishing his friend had invited him out for drinks instead.  
“Thanks, man, I owe ya.”  
He twisted in his desk chair, letting his phone go dead, and sighing as he looked over his completed robotics project. “Hiro’s bot fighting again.” He told the robot, despite it not being active at this point. “One of these days he’s going to get himself into huge trouble, and I won’t be there to save him.”

The room was quiet. Tadashi dreaded the scene that faced him if he kept Hiro waiting any longer, so rose from his chair and grabbed the keys to his moped.  
“...just as well I’m here to save him now, huh?” Tadashi sighed as he surveyed his empty lab before shutting the door behind him and heading off to save his younger brother.

“Get on!” Tadashi yelled, revving the engine of his moped as he sped past, spying his younger brother cornered by Yama’s goons. Lost in the adrenaline of it all, Tadashi slapped a helmet onto Hiro’s head before screeching the moped around a corner.  
“Tadashi!” Hiro squealed, as though Tadashi was doing something as mundane as picking him up from school for the first time, “boy am I glad to see you, big brother!”  
Tadashi decided not to indulge Hiro with a response, grunting instead.  
One of these days you’re going to get yourself arrested, he thought, seeing Hiro as bright and as bubbly as ever, having bounced back from this incident like nothing.  
Or worse - you could’ve got yourself hurt, idiot.  
Though, as Hiro slid his arms around Tadashi, linking onto him like a koala - the eighteen year old couldn’t help but smile secretly to himself.

A smile which rapidly disappeared as the blaring of police sirens screamed in his ears and he watched himself and Hiro become engulfed in a wash of blue and red lights. Fuck.  
Hiro really was going to get himself arrested.

It turned out that no, Hiro was not going to get himself arrested; he was going to get them both arrested. Scowling to himself, Tadashi let the cops place himself behind bars. He was squeezed tightly to two of Yama’s goons - in an, ‘I can count your nose hairs’ kind of way. Hiro, as a minor, was placed in a solitary cell just opposite Tadashi’s, which only served to push Tadashi’s nose even further out of joint. He squeezed himself as close to the bars as he could go, beckoning his younger brother forward. 

Hiro, meanwhile, was in a cell all of his own, with a small Hiro-sized tin toilet, a small Hiro-sized bed and a blue Hiro-sized comforter. But without Tadashi by his side the room seemed a whole lot bigger; Hiro wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. In fact, the bouncy Hiro of earlier had all but disappeared, leaving a quiet, subdued teenager in his place. Upon being led into the cell and having the door locked behind him, he had sank to the floor and wept (just a little; he wasn’t a baby) before a guard told him to can it and frightened him enough to shut up.  
Right now, he had settled on his bed, and was fidgeting side to side, sometimes gripping the comforter beside him between his fingers. He was fidgeting so much that he didn’t even notice Tadashi beckoning him over. Hiro felt as though it was best to ignore the growing feeling in his tummy.  
It... it was just nerves, that was all.. just nerves. Not... not anything else. He glanced over toward the small toilet and grimaced, shaking his head. No. He was fine. 

“Hiro!” Tadashi repeated, slightly louder now considering Hiro had chosen to ignore him the first time around. Finally, at the sound of his brother’s voice, Hiro rose to his feet. This movement was - at least, according to his bladder - a bad idea. Gravity seemed to weigh down on him, making him all too aware of the heaviness hiding in his lower half. Adrenaline had made him ignore it at the botfight, adrenaline had forced him to keep ignoring it while he and Tadashi were arrested. Now the heavy ‘I’m full!’ pulsing in his lower half was all he could focus on. Wincing a little, he squeezed his legs together before scrambling on over toward Tadashi.

Tadashi narrowed his eyes as his younger brother appeared in front of him. “You owe me big time, bonehead.” He hissed. 

There was no malice in his voice, and Hiro knew he wasn’t really angry, but still he cowered back. “Sorry, ‘Dashi.” he whispered to the floor, shocking even himself when his voice came out tearful. Tadashi didn’t answer him, stepping back into the crush of his cell.  
Somehow this made the tickles in Hiro’s own belly increase, like they’d been ignited by a match. Hesitantly - like he was waiting for Tadashi to console him - he stumbled over to his little bed and laid down on it - careful, of course, to not flop down full force on his bladder. Laying on his side, his hands curved protectively around his middle. It did nothing to soothe the full sensation, so after a little while he groaned and slid his hands between his legs. It was a movement he was used to, gripping himself through his cargo shorts and whimpering in discomfort. Uncomfortable memories came flooding back of Hiro, eight, waiting for his twelve year old big brother to finish his bedtime routine before rushing to carry out his own. Every bedtime it was the same; into pyjamas, brush teeth, brush hair, curl up in bed - only thirty minutes or so later, when there was the unmistakeable sound of Tadashi running the faucet, remembering he had missed out on using the toilet and having to curl up and hold on tight until he was finished.  
Except there was nobody to wait for, not this time. His bladder pleaded with him, sort of pulsing now, ready. He could just get up and go.  
Frowning, he dragged himself over to the tin toilet, trying desperately to prove himself wrong. He lowered his pants and undies - no one would see - before plopping down, and shivering at the cold surface that greeted his bottom.  
And… go, he willed himself.

Nothing. 

And… go.” He willed himself again. His muscles twitched and he could feel it all… there… dangerously close to coming out, but not quite. He whimpered a little bit at the stinging pressure. Every now and then there would be a little flutter and Hiro would rock forward, anticipating, toes digging into the dirt of the cell— but then the chatter from the opposing cell would creep into his ears and make him feel all hot and embarrassed and shy. Somehow it was as though every eye was on him, even though he tried really hard to rationalise that nobody would look. The thinnest, tiniest spurt trickled out and splashed against the metal bowl - but in the silence of the cell it echoed loudly, a sort of… ptang… noise. Immediately, terrified, his head snapped to the opposite cell. The rational side of his brain was telling him that Tadashi’s cellmates were being way too noisy to hear or care as to what he was doing; the irrational terrified child he really was ducked further into himself, adamant that they could hear every noise he made.  
Whimpering, he shook his head.  
He couldn’t do it. He wasn’t going to do it. He was… he was going to wait until he got home.  
…Whenever that would be.

In fact, the youngest Hamada brother wasn’t exactly wrong. There was one person crammed into that cell full of people that was able to hear him.  
…Tadashi.  
Tadashi could hear Hiro’s quiet moaning even from inside his cell. Maybe it was brotherly instinct but Hiro’s voice carried itself over the grunting and shouting of everybody else.  
Hiro...  
Hiro sounded like he needed his big brother, and Tadashi’s heart broke at not being able to be there to comfort him.  
“Please!” Tadashi’s voice cracked desperately as he tried to catch the attention of a passing prison guard, his eyes glossy. “Please, you need to let me in there,” he gestured to Hiro’s cell with a quick sweeping motion, “my brother...” he looked down as the guard scoffed and was close to walking away, “he’s... he’s hurting, I need to be in there!”

All in all, Tadashi wasn’t sure if Hiro really was hurting - and couldn’t get close enough to ask - but the broken sounded whimpers were enough to get his big brother-spidey senses tingling. 

“Quit whining, Hamada, he’s fi...” the guard began to say, coming past Hiro’s cell. No sooner had he done so then he paused and stepped back with a frown. Sighing to himself, he returned to Tadashi’s cell. Jesus, he’d seen enough. Who knew the Hamada kid was right?  
“Hamada. Here, now.” He barked. Tadashi, resolute at this point, shot forward with a look of shock plastered onto his face. “Yes?” He asked, trying to keep his voice on an even keel.

“You were right. You may join your brother in his cell until sunrise. The rest of you, put up and shut up.”  
The guard’s voice was stern, but Tadashi knew that that wasn’t the reason for his heart pumping erratically in his chest. He was right? Hiro was hurting?! Hiro... he had to get to Hiro..!  
No sooner had the guard opened the door to his own cell had he sprinted toward his little brother’s.

“Never seen someone so excited t’get put into a different prison cell before.” the guard murmured as he watched Tadashi sprint to the minor’s cell and shift impatiently foot to foot. Unlocking the door of Hiro’s cell, he shoved Tadashi inside. “As long as this gets him to put a cork in his cryin’.” The guard muttered, locking the two siblings in the cell with a roll of his eyes. 

Tadashi took in the sight before him and sighed, not moving, waiting for his younger brother to move first.  
Hiro had his head ducked down, watching his legs swing back and forth, his shorts and undies rolled down to his ankles. He had, evidently, decided not to get up. The sigh nearly went undetected by Hiro - nearly melted into the silence of the cell - but then the fourteen year old frowned, looked up. Huh?  
His heart leapt in his chest.

Tadashi!

Oh no, Tadashi!

At once, Hiro’s mouth fell open and an embarrassed gurgle of nonsense streamed from his mouth. His eyes grew damp; he ignored them, resorting to rapid shimmying and hopping as at the same time he yanked both his pants and shorts up.  
A thorny prickle of embarrassment weaved up his spine, his entire face bloomed a deep shade of scarlet. Tadashi couldn’t see him like this! This was... so embarrassing. He was fourteen! Tadashi would never have been caught in such a mortifying position at fourteen!  
Hiro couldn’t quite pinpoint when his movements slowed down, but at some point they did, and he was all too aware of the achy lump in his throat. He slowed to a stop, snivelling.  
“Tadashi...” was all Hiro said. It came out sounding dangerously wet and wobbly.

Tadashi knew the tone all too well; it meant Hiro was close to tears. He darted forwards, pulling Hiro into a hug; the force of which ended up pushing Hiro back onto the toilet.

“Ssshh. I’ve got you. I’ve got you, Hiro.”

Tadashi’s voice was slow and velvety soft in Hiro’s ears as he crouched down to his brother’s level, holding the gangly teen as best he could in his arms while he was still sat on the tiny toilet. Hiro sobbed then quickly sniffled, burying his snotty, puffy face into the crook of his big brother’s neck. His shorts were still on and his bladder was still full. Squeezing his legs tighter together, Hiro willed himself to keep on holding it - and yet at the same time willed for Tadashi not to notice the movement.  
But Tadashi was his older brother, and as his older brother Tadashi had the annoying skill of being able to detect even the slightest change in movement, the slightest hitch in demeanour, the slightest nuance in Hiro’s tone of voice. Now, right now, was no different. Hiro trembled and Tadashi noticed immediately, the hand that had been thus far toying with Hiro’s hair coming to a slow stop while Tadashi’s eyes travelled to his brother’s trembling legs. It didn’t take very long for Tadashi to put two and two together afterwards, and by then the penny had thudded into place. Hiro wasn’t a weepy child, but no wonder he was so upset…

“Ah. Let’s get these shorts off, kid. Bottom up.” Tadashi murmured, teasing himself out of his brother’s grip. Not moving from his position crouched on the floor of the prison cell, he gently urged Hiro to hover slightly and helped the young teenager to coax his shorts downwards.

Hiro resisted the urge to curl up into a ball as his shorts puddled around his feet leaving him sat on the tin bowl in just his underwear for what was the second-or-third time today; but it didn’t take long before the underwear, too, joined his shorts around his ankles. Instantly - as the rush of cold air hit - Hiro’s hand shot to the area between his legs and squeezed, in some sort of desperate attempt to hold back the vicious flood that threatened to surge forth. He blinked up at Tadashi, eyes dewy with tears.  
A lump rose in his throat that he tried his hardest to speak around, keening a little. Tadashi noticed this too (of course) and tilted Hiro’s chin upwards, forcing the teen to face him. “What is it?” he murmured, but quickly fell quiet and scooted further away from his younger brother. Ah. Hiro was a chronic sufferer of pee shyness. Even when they were at home Hiro would stand there in the bathroom, hand stuffed between his legs and twisting at the ankles waiting for Tadashi to finish his morning shower before he could use the toilet himself. Of course. How could he forget? “Okay,” he held his hands up.

“No! D- don’t...” Hiro’s voice was trembling again, but this time out of desperation rather than upset. His knees knocked against one another, squeezing in as tight as they would go. The thin lines of his leg muscles grew visible from the sheer force of the teenager’s tensing. “Don’t go.” Hiro gabbled, grasping for Tadashi’s t-shirt and continuing to shift around on the toilet seat. In all the rush, a tiny dribble of pee trickled free into the bowl below. The thin trickling continued for a few seconds before Hiro noticed it. In fact, Tadashi was the one who noticed before Hiro did; the gentle, thin smile spreading over his face drew Hiro still, and it was only then that the young boy noticed. Face blooming a gorgeous shade of scarlet, Hiro squeezed every muscle in his body in an attempt to cut off the light stream. “I- I can hold it!”

“Hiro, no.” Tadashi cooed soft-but-stern, reaching up to embrace the boy once more. “I’m staying, okay? Just me and you. Nobody else.” He whispered, earning a whine from his little brother as Tadashi nestled him back into the crook of his neck.  
Just them. Just them. Nobody else. Hiro tried his best to block out the fact that there was a cell full of criminals opposite them and squeezed his eyes so tightly shut that they hurt as he buried his face into his big brother’s neck.  
That same face grew flushed as - near enough instantly - he felt himself give in. Tadashi’s hand was slowly rubbing circles into his back, coaxing the knots out of his aching muscles so that one by one, they relaxed. The thin stream that Hiro had - somehow, by dint of magic - managed to force off, returned instantly. It started off slow and light but, with a bladder tired of waiting, quickly became heavy.  
Hiro moaned a pleased kind of moan into his older brother’s shoulder as he sprayed pee down into the bowl beneath him; his entire, tiny body going boneless with relief. Although he would have combusted on the spot had Tadashi tried this at home, somehow it was soothing enough to work just this once.  
His bladder continued to pulse and drag aches through his body even as he continued to empty - aches that twisted from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. Only as his bladder drained a little under half of its contents did the pulsing fade and the dizzy relief started clouding in the young teenager’s head. Sub consciously, Hiro’s toes curled tightly against the cell floor. They stayed that way until the heavy spray began to subside and dribble off to nothing as the last few drops went plinking into the water.

The cell was silent for a long, long moment. In fact, time seemed to hover in the air. Hiro near enough collapsed against Tadashi all over again, shivering with the bliss that collected in his now empty tummy.  
Tadashi chuckled softly, gently peeling himself away from his brother to get a good look at the younger. Hiro’s face was still flushed that delicious mosaic of pink and peach; his hair was mussed; his eyes were glossy with relief.  
“Better?” Tadashi asked, a smile quirking at the corners of his lips as he teased his fingers through Hiro’s hair. Hiro sighed once more for good measure before nodding dreamily. 

“So much better.” He whispered, shifting on the toilet seat to yank his pants back up. Tadashi moved away for his brother to hop down from the toilet, and frowned when he didn’t. Looking up, he found Hiro gazing shyly at him, hands outstretched in that ‘grabby’ pose that threw Tadashi back to his and his brother’s childhood. He smiled faintly and in one practiced motion lifted his younger brother into his arms, barely even questioning it. Hiro melted against his older brother, though his fingers clung.

“What now, Hiro? Would you like to go to bed?” Tadashi asked quietly, holding his lanky baby brother effortlessly in his arms. Hiro seemed to cling tighter to him when he asked this, but didn’t quite respond. Tadashi gave him a joking squeeze. “Mm?”

Hiro whimpered slightly, squeezing again. “Don’t go.” He pleaded, feeling his heart quicken as he glanced to the cell opposite them where Tadashi once was, filled with... lots of scary people, then to his own empty cell. 

“Hiro, I’m not going anywhere.” Tadashi responded patiently, his hand rhythmically patting his younger brother’s back. “I’m staying here with you no matter what. Now, would you like to go to bed?”

Hiro nodded, so Tadashi carried him to bed. 

The ‘bed’, if it could even be called that, was a thin metal strip with a lumpy mattress and sharp prodding springs, much too small to fit both boys even if they squeezed in tight together. Hiro was small enough to curl up entirely on the tiny bed; Tadashi had to perform some intricate origami-level legwork just to make sure his legs didn’t dangle off of the bed. It... wasn’t the comfiest of positions Tadashi had ever been in; nevertheless he urged Hiro close to his body all the same, before pulling the scratchy, hairy comforter up over their bodies. He closed his eyes.

In the darkness Hiro shifted uncomfortably, twisting himself away from Tadashi. No matter which way he angled his body he always seemed to be lying on a spring or itched at by the dog-eared comforter. He turned to face Tadashi again.

Then tossed.

Then turned. 

Then tossed and turned at once. 

It was... strange. Even though Tadashi was right there, Hiro suddenly felt like he was all alone again. Even though thin lines of moonlight crept in through the tiny cell window, it felt.. dark. Darker than dark. Tadashi’s breathing was slow, deep and quiet - he was already asleep... and Hiro really did feel so alone.

“Settle, Hiro.” Tadashi moaned at all the squirming, blindly reaching out and patting the boy in an attempt to placate him. “You’re shaking the bed. M’gonna fall off.”

...Ah. Perhaps not. “Sorry Tadashi.” Hiro whispered, suddenly tearful despite Tadashi barely even raising his voice. He pulled the comforter up to his chin and, angry at himself for being so emotional like a baby, blinked the tears away from his eyes. Then, Hiro squeezed his eyes shut as tight as they’d go and tried to force himself to sleep.

It was harder than he thought. Aside from Tadashi’s slow, steady breaths, Hiro’s ears seemed to hyper focus on every other tiny noise accompanying them in their cell. There was a scratching outside on the cell wall and a tip-tip-tapping on the bars of the window. Yama. That was Yama, finally caught up to him, and he was going to take him away and hurt him and he would never see Tadashi ever again...  
It was definitely not an old cable line swinging in the nightly wind, of course not, it was Yama. There was no way it couldn’t be Yama. Hiro’s heart quickened and an icy cold chill twisted down his arms, seeming to plunge and pool in his tummy. He shivered and decided to cower under the blanket closer to his brother, trembling all the while. Not that he was scared or anything. He... he wasn’t scared. He was... protecting Tadashi! He was—!  
Suddenly, there was a growl - this sounded as if it was coming from the cell opposite them.  
Oh.  
Uh oh.  
Hiro had forgotten all about Tadashi’s scary cell mates. If Yama didn’t get to them, then Tadashi’s scary cell mates would definitely get there first. Tadashi and Hiro would never make it out of here alive!  
Of... of course, that was if Aunt Cass even decided to come back for them. She was going to be so disappointed in him. So disappointed that she could just decide that Hiro deserved to stay in prison, eternally hunted down by Yama and a handful of angry inmates.  
At the thought of this, Hiro’s trembling seemed to increase - and no matter how much he told himself not to cry, the harder it became. As soon as his breath caught in his throat it was game over - he choked on a sob and dissolved into silent tears; the kind of silent tears that rolled down his cheeks, trickled into his ears and made the bed rattle with each heaving cry. Without Aunt Cass or his older brother comforting him, Hiro let himself cry like a baby - sobs, whimpers, rolled up fists and all.

“Hiro, you’re wiggling.” Tadashi told him in a warning voice, blinking his eyes open slightly. He had been too lost in his sleep to hear Hiro’s cries, but the split second look he got of his baby brother as Tadashi opened his eyes forced him into wakefulness. Was Hiro... crying? Had something happened? Why didn’t Hiro ask for him?  
The elder brother frowned, twisting to face Hiro fully while trying to ignore the rising feeling of guilt in his belly. “Hiro, what’s the matter?”  
All traces of sleepiness in his voice had gone, replaced by hard-edged concern and seriousness. 

“H- huh?” Hiro jumped and tore himself away from Tadashi, his tiny hands scrambling to wipe the tears from his eyes. “Nothing!” He said quickly, taking a deep breath and hoping that Tadashi ignored the fact that his voice still sounded tear filled. Tadashi’s gaze narrowed in that ‘I know something is wrong’ kind of way that was perfected by all older brothers. Rather than encouraging Hiro to open up, it only encouraged Hiro to gabble some more. “It- it’s nothing, ‘Dashi. Really nothing!”  
He laughed, but his laugh sounded... wet, like tears would soon follow. Tadashi’s gaze narrowed even tighter.

Hiro cowered under his older brother’s glare, so Tadashi tried to deepen it. The younger brother whined unhappily and the large plastic smile that he’d slapped on his face slid off. He leaned against his brother quietly, not quite able to make eye contact with him.

The stern gaze dropped from Tadashi’s face instantly to be replaced by a fleeting look of relief. He squeezed Hiro’s shoulder to urge him into speaking, much like he had done earlier. “What’s going on?”

Hiro picked at a loose thread on the old comforter just so he wouldn’t have to look up at Tadashi. Deep in his heart he knew Tadashi wouldn’t ever tease him, but the worry was still there. He took a big, deep breath to encourage himself.  
“Do you think Aunt Cass will come back for us?” The young teenager finally asked in a tiny voice. He seemed to direct the question at the comforter rather than his brother.

Tadashi sighed to himself, relieved. Was that all?  
“Of course she will, Hiro.” He murmured with a voice as soft as velvet, as comforting as he could make it with tiredness creeping back in on him. 

Judging by the fact that Tadashi felt as though he was hugging a little piece of cardboard, his words had done little to quell Hiro’s anxiety. “I mean it, little bro,” Tadashi tried again, voice silky-slow. He lazily reached back a hand and began carding it through Hiro’s hair, sometimes tracing shapes and patterns. That did it, Tadashi triumphantly (and tiredly) thought to himself as Hiro melted into him, bliss pooling in his body.  
Hiro cuddled, Tadashi cuddled, and it was peaceful.

For all of five minutes. 

“Are you sure? Wh- what if she doesn’t want to?” Hiro’s voice was frayed by anxiety, breaking the calmness of their cell and teasing Tadashi from the fringes of slumber. Hiro sat up ramrod straight, fidgeting with the comforter.  
This time, it took Tadashi a little while to find his words. It took him a slight moment longer to quell the exhaustion that was seeping into his voice.

“I’m sure, Hiro, as sure as I can be.” Tadashi whispered. He gave Hiro a light squeeze. “What has you so restless?”

It was a silly question; Tadashi knew it, and Hiro knew it too considering he didn’t answer his older brother and instead sniffled, looking through his lashes. 

It sometimes took Tadashi a moment to remember that his little brother was still very much a child. When said little brother was facing down San Fransokyo’s most threateningly shady back-alley bot fighter, whooping with adrenaline as he sped off on the back of Tadashi’s moped and bold as brass in the face of getting arrested, Tadashi had discovered it was quite easy to forget that fact. It was the moments like this, when Hiro was crying at the thought of being alone in his cell without Tadashi, twisting up tightly in a last ditch attempt to not use the prison cell toilet and too anxious to sleep in case Aunt Cass really did abandon them in prison forever that brought Tadashi back down to Earth with a thump.  
Perhaps, the elder brother reasoned, that was an excuse to look for a new angle.

Clearing his throat, Tadashi took a slow, deep breath.

“A canary sings a cradle song...”

_Sleep, sleep,  
Sleep, child._

His voice was croaky with exhaustion, but soft and slow and sweet. Hiro recognised the words instantly and - as if by magic - began to relax. His eyelids began to grow heavy, though the teenager fought to keep them open. He watched his brother intently, placidly, as his lips shaped every word. Where did this song come from? Hiro didn't know. He didn't remember Mom and Dad singing it to him, but suddenly Tadashi had dug it up again.

“Above the cradle, the loquat fruits sway...”

_Sleep, sleep,  
Sleep, child._

Loquats. Hiro remembered not knowing what a loquat fruit was as a child, what it looked like, or smelled like or tasted like.  
Hiro still didn’t know what a loquat fruit looked like or smelled like or tasted like, in fact. He was about to ask Tadashi, in case he might know, but suddenly he felt like his mouth was too... too sleepy to make words. He closed his eyes and closed his mouth slowly. 

“A squirrel rocks the cradle by its rope...”

_Sleep, sleep,  
Sleep, child._

Hiro wasn’t quite sure he was listening to that line. “We should ask Aunt Cass to buy some loquats.” He mumbled, nodding to himself.

(Or so he thought. Tadashi didn’t have the heart to tell his brother that, “wishooahhhntcasst’buyl’qutzzz!” didn’t create an actual sentence.)

“Sure we should, buddy.” Tadashi whispered, chuckling quietly and continuing to toy with his little brother’s hair. Or at least, that’s what Hiro thought he said. Perhaps Hiro was dreaming. He kinda felt like he was dreaming...

“Dreams in a cradle, with the yellow moon shining down...”

Tadashi finished the lullaby with a note of finality in his voice, a thin smile full of... relief, perhaps even victory - drifting onto his features as he looked to the now-still form of his younger brother.  
The moonlight fell from their cell window in slanted slits, shining boxes of pale yellow light onto Hiro’s face. Asleep, he looked cherubic, no worry in his face.  
Tadashi brushed a few thin strands of hair out of Hiro’s face and slowly settled down himself, finally at peace.

_Sleep, sleep,  
Sleep, child..._

**Author's Note:**

> Yurikago is the Japanese word for 'cradle'. It is also the name of the lullaby that Tadashi sings to ease his little brother into sleep at the end there, except translated into English: https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=2887  
> I thought it appropriate, and very sweet. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
